Organization Profile

Bosque Youth Conservation Corps

The goals of the Bosque Youth Conservation Corps (BYCC) program at the United South Broadway Corporation (USBC), a community development corporation based in Albuquerque, are to:

  • Cultivate personal and group leadership, practical life skills, and school readiness among participating youth.
  • Provide safe places, creative outlets, supervised activity, and pointed academic training for participants.
  • Prepare young people for entry into economically viable trades and professions through a program of rigorous training in the acquisition of life, personal, and group leadership skills.
  • Work on projects that protect, restore, and enhance Albuquerque’s thriving Bosque environment along a two-mile stretch of the historic Rio Grande just west of Old Town.

Participants in this six-month program may work up to fifteen hours a week during the school year and up to twenty-five hours a week during the summer. Many of BYCC members use their earnings to cover family financial needs, school costs, and other expenses.

For 2004, its first year, the BYCC and USBC chose twenty-five youth and young adults aged 14–25. All of the participants live in Albuquerque’s economically challenged neighborhoods populated primarily by African-Americans and Latinos. Residents of these neighborhoods, of whom approximately 50% own their own homes, struggle daily with a number of interrelated issues. Among these are low paying jobs, a high cost of living, limited educational opportunities, and cultural and linguistic discrepancies between themselves and mainstream society. In addition, a high number of area adults struggle with alcohol and drug addition. These addictions encourage violence as a mechanism for coping with the relentless pressure and complexities of urban life.

These conditions make the BYCC program valuable to our community. The BYCC program provides neighborhood youth with extended learning experiences that benefit their community.

In 2004, BYCC members created a 3-mile trail in the Bosque, providing recreational opportunities for area residents. This project beautified the Bosque, and included:

  • 2 interpretive kiosks
  • 2 benches made from recycled materials
  • 1,000 native trees planted in burned areas along the Bosque.

Participants also attended educational workshops and help with other community projects. Workshops included CPR and wellness training, tree identification, architecture, computer skills, and anti-racism training.

BYCC members also worked with AmeriCorp and community volunteers to design and paint an intergenerational mural at the Dennis Chavez Community Center. The mural design was influenced by interviews with community members and their recollections and reflections about their communities. The Dennis Chavez Community Center is a place where school children work with AmeriCorps members on literacy projects and other educational activities.

Among the 2004 participants were those whose aspirations included becoming electrical engineers, civil rights lawyers, members of the military, forest rangers, manufactures of computer components, and other professions. Of our high school seniors, 85% enrolled in college for fall 2004.

The BYCC 2005 session runs from January 10–July 8 and will include 30 participants from Albuquerque communities, many of which border the Bosque. This years’ participants will design and construct a pedestrian bridge that will be made of recycled materials and custom tiled work. They will also extend the 3-mile trail to 5 miles and construct a gazebo using recycled materials.